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Viewers Like Us

Viewers Like Us

Written by: Viewers Like Us
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 Viewers Like Us explores who gets to tell America’s multitude of stories in public media today. Host and independent filmmaker, Grace Lee, along with reporter and filmmaker Akintunde Ahmad, investigate a history of systemic inequities at PBS, the Public Broadcasting System, and envision what the future could look and sound like if PBS centered a diversity of experiences and perspectives.

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Episodes
  • Now What?

    Now What?
    Oct 3 2025
    “You’ve gotta respect the incredible amount of hustle that independents bring, that our communities bring, that is defined inside of the history in public broadcasting. There's been a lot of hustle. That hustle's not going away.” - Joaquin Alvarado

    In the final episode of Season 2, Grace and her fellow Viewers Like Us co-creators, Ken Ikeda and Joaquin Alvarado, reconvene in Oakland, California for a candid roundtable conversation about the fraught state of the public media union. The trio reflects on lessons learned from making Season 1 of the podcast, from 2021 to the present, and uplifts resonant takeaways from a series of interactive worldbuilding sessions organized by VLU in 2022. Facilitated by Tony Patrick, these sessions allowed industry peers and leaders in the arts, documentary, and media sectors to collectively envision more dynamic, sustainable paths forward in support of all those who are eager to tell an abundance of American stories. Grace, Joaquin, and Ken also call in young makers to join the critical fight to build a better, more innovative future for public media — albeit in whatever new, reimagined forms it may take in the months ahead.

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    41 mins
  • No Surprises

    No Surprises
    Oct 3 2025
    “The worst thing that can happen is that [young makers] stop. That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to scare folks into not creating, not sharing their voices, not telling our stories. And that’s not acceptable. We're not going back.” - Leslie Fields-Cruz

    Grace continues to unpack the devastating fallout from the Republican-led rescission package to defund CPB—the conduit for federal funding to NPR, PBS, and their member stations—alongside Leslie Fields-Cruz, executive director of Black Public Media, and Don Young, executive director of CAAM. Leslie and Don share their respective organizations’ origin stories and reflect on what prior decades of independent maker-led organizing, particularly the work of veteran indie filmmaker and producer Loni Ding, made possible for public media.

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    29 mins
  • Feet to the Fire

    Feet to the Fire
    Oct 3 2025
    “Being able to give people things to discuss, to have an honest and intelligent discussion, is important. Dialogue leads to action, and we can't lose that.” - Erika Dilday

    Following the passage of the Trump administration's rescission package to defund public media, including $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), Grace speaks with Erika Dilday in her capacity as executive director of American Documentary, Inc., and executive producer of its award-winning documentary series POV on PBS. Erika shares potential ways forward from her corner of the public broadcasting world; addresses the censorship claims related to Jane M. Wagner’s debut feature documentary, "Break the Game" (2023), the focus of this season’s fourth episode; and discusses her experiences of collaborating with Ken Burns on a forthcoming documentary series, "Emancipation to Exodus."

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    34 mins
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